Andy Devaney
If you thought the modern private club arms race peaked at pickleball and a cold plunge, Coral Mountain’s Desert Club has just thrown a waist-high set straight into the Coachella Valley. Meriwether Companies has announced a partnership with Thermal Beach Club to build a private, world-class, manmade surf lagoon as an annex amenity for the highly anticipated 400-acre Coral Mountain Desert Club in La Quinta, California.
“We’re excited to add the largest pneumatic wave basin in the U.S. to the next-generation vision and lifestyle at Coral Mountain, making this project one of the most unique, all-encompassing developments in North America,” said Noah Hahn, managing partner at Meriwether Companies. “As demand shifts towards adventure-forward, active, wellness-oriented communities, a wave basin is the penultimate amenity that will redefine what it means to live in the Coachella Valley.”
The headline grabber is obvious: year-round waves in the desert. But the underlying story is the same one reshaping high-end golf communities everywhere—golf is no longer the only reason people buy in. It’s the anchor. Everything around it is the hook.
A David McLay Kidd golf course anchors the community
For golfers, Coral Mountain Desert Club isn’t trying to whisper; it’s trying to put its credentials on the table early. The community is anchored by an 18-hole championship golf course designed by David McLay Kidd, a name associated with design that rewards imagination as much as it punishes a lazy miss.
Around that course, Meriwether is pitching a full lifestyle campus: recreation, social connection, and wellness—delivered as a membership ecosystem rather than a single amenity list.
Designed to foster “experience-oriented living,” the plan includes leading-edge fitness and recovery facilities, world-class racquet sports, curated programming and extensive trail systems across the property and its 20,000 adjacent acres of adjacent public land. And in a region where new private club supply doesn’t exactly pop up overnight, Coral Mountain is aiming to become the first private club and community to debut in more than 20 years.
Thermal Beach Club partnership adds a private surf lagoon nearby
Here’s the differentiator that will do the selling. Coral Mountain Desert Club and Thermal Beach Club members will have access to a transformative 48-chamber surf lagoon, located less than 10 minutes away from Coral Mountain Desert Club. The wave pool will feature customisable settings to create optimal surf conditions for every skill level.
In other words: the same place can serve first-timers finding their feet and confident surfers hunting something steeper—without waiting for the ocean to cooperate. The press release goes further, claiming the new wave pool “will democratize surfing for all skill levels, from novice to expert, while bringing consistent, year-round waves to the heart of the desert.”
And, importantly for a private club community, it’s positioned as an “annexe” amenity—close enough to feel like part of the club day, separate enough to keep the main property focused on golf and the core social scene.
“Booming” wave pool interest — and a deliberate step into a new category
Meriwether isn’t shy about what it thinks this does to the project’s positioning.
“Interest in surf and the wave pool space is booming, and the addition of the surf lagoon will catapult Coral Mountain Desert Club into a category of its own,” said Michael Schwab, partner, Meriwether Companies. “This new amenity reflects our commitment to pushing the boundaries of what a modern master-planned community can be and reinforces our vision for destinations that the next evolution of buyers can enjoy for generations to come.”
Read that again and you can see the target audience in plain sight: the “next evolution of buyers” who want a golf address, yes—but also want the kind of multi-sport, wellness-forward lifestyle that keeps the entire household entertained, not just the person polishing their wedges.
Cabo Real Surf Club is the proof-of-concept
This isn’t Meriwether’s first flirtation with the surf-lagoon world. The company points to the recently launched Cabo Real Surf Club in Los Cabos, Mexico—built in collaboration with the Sanchez Navarro family—as evidence that this model can move from glossy renderings to real-world demand.
That track record matters because the surf-lagoon space is full of big promises. A serious private community needs the boring stuff to be right—delivery, access, membership value, and long-term operational credibility—especially when it’s selling a new idea in a traditional market.
What happens next for Coral Mountain Desert Club
Meriwether says additional details on sales and development plans for Coral Mountain Desert Club will be announced in early 2026. For updates, prospective members and buyers are directed to coralmountain.com.
